Necktie



W. H. SEARS Dec. 3, 1935.

NECKTIE Filed March 50, 1933 Patented Dec. 3, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE NECKTIE York, N. Y.

Application March 30, 1933, Serial No. 663,457

2 Claims.

My invention relates to neckties and more particularly to neckties inwhich the knot is formed while the tie is in place upon the wearer. Theobject of my invention is to provide a necktie having a neckband whichis divided into two parts and the parts of which are connected togetherby detachable means so placed that the detachable means is accessible byinserting the fingers under .one corner of the collar in order to detachthe sections of the neckband to permit the necktie to be removed. Thepresent necktie, whether of the four-in-hand or bow type, is adapted tobe tied while in place around the collar, so that the knot will have asoft and artistic appearance as distinguished from a factorymade knotor, in other words, the appearance will be equal to that of an ordinarynecktie the knot of which is tied by the wearer. Instead, however, ofhaving to untie the knot each time the necktie is removed and replaced,the knot when once formed in the present tie, may be retained over along period without being disturbed, because the sections of theneckband may be detached to remove the necktie from the collar whileleaving the knot undisturbed. Thus the necktie may be put on and takenoff any number of times without disturbing the knot and without havingto tie the knot each time the tie is put on. With the present inventionit is not even necessary to slide the knot each time the tie is put onbecause the neckband will continue to fit the collar once the knot hasbeen properly formed in position and because the separate portions ofthe neckband may be detached and reattached without changing theposition of the knot.

The more important purpose of the invention is to provide a necktie theknot of which is formed by the wearer while the tie is in place, butwhich will permit the tie to be removed and replaced without disturbingthe knot or requiring it to be retied. This saves wear and tear upon thetie because it saves having to form the knot each time the necktie isput on. The tie remains fresh looking and unsoiled over a long period oftime because of the elimination of the necessity of having to reform theknot. On the other hand, the present necktie is artistic, like theordinary necktie which is tied by the wearer. I am aware that necktieswith factory-made knots have been made detachable, but there ispractically no sale at the present time for factorymade-up neckties.Under the present invention it is possible to .obtain all the advantagesof a necktie which is tied by the wearer but to preserve the knot and topermit the necktie to be applied and removed many times withoutdisturbing the knot.

To permit the necktie to be applied to what is known as a turned-downcollar, the detachable 5 clasp for holding the two sections of theneckband detachably together must be so located that the user may reachin under the front flap of the collar to detach or attach parts of theclasp. Just before the knot is originally formed in the tie, thedetachable clasp will be located some distance back of the front flap ofthe collar, especially if the knot is not formed close up to theneckband of the collar; but when the knot is slid along the tie to bringit up close to the neckband of the collar, the detachable clasp will bethereby moved downwardly to a position where it will lie hidden by thecorner flap of the collar but in position to be accessible for.detachment.

Subsequently, however, when the tie is removed and replaced, that is,after the knot has once been formed, the detachable clasp will alwayscome under the collar and near the front flap although covered by theflap of the collar to be hidden from View.

Another object of my invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive andeflicient clasp for connecting the detachable portions of the neckbandtogether by a sliding action so that the adjustment of the neckbandaround the collar will not be altered as the parts of the clasp areattached and detached.

Other objects will be set forth in the following description of myinvention.

In the drawing forming part of this application,

Figure l is a face view of a necktie embodying my invention and showingthe same laid out flat or before it is applied around the neck of thewearer, 40

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the necktie with the parts of theclasp united together and with an ordinary four-in-hand knot formed inthe exposed portions of the necktie; in other words, as the necktie isworn,

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the necktie showing the parts of theclasp separated and the necktie detached from the collar,

Figure 4 is an edge view showing the details of construction of theclasp, Figure 5 is a perspective View of the two: halves of the claspdetached and in position to be slid into engagement with each other,

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 66 of Figure 5,

Figure 7 is a view showing the necktie in place around the collar, and

Figure 8 is a view showing the invention ap plied to a bow tie.

In Figure 1 I have shown my improved necktie consisting of a neckbandportion I, the two parts of which 2 and 3 are connected with each otherby the clasp 4 as hereinafter described. The portion 2 of the neckbandis comparatively short as it extends only from the knot of the tie to a.point slightly within one of the front flaps 5 of the collar. Thisportion of the neckband merges with the rear or under panel B of thenecktie, the latter being of usual form. The portion 3 of the neckbandis considerably longer than the portion 2 because it extends around themajor portion of the neckband of the collar in order to permit the claspto be positioned in the manner here described. This portion of theneckband merges with the front panel 1 from which the knot 8 is formed.

When the tie is applied for the first time, the neckband portion isplaced between the neckband of the collar and the turned-down portion 9the same as if an ordinary necktie were being applied to the collar.With the two panels of the necktie brought down from the front of thecollar, the clasp will be positioned at first at about the positionindicated at A in Figure 2, which it will be understood, is not thefinal position of the clasp. The wearer will proceed to form theordinary four-in-hand knot in the necktie, if it is of the four-in-handtype shown in Figures 1 to 3 inclusive. This will be done by throwingthe front panel around the rear panel two or more times, in the usualway, then bringing the free end of the front panel down through theportion which forms the knot. When the knot has been completely formedand adjusted into artistic appearance, the wearer will grasp the freeend of the rear panel 6 and slide the knot upwardly along the neckbandportion 2 until the neckband of the tie fits snugly around the neckbandof the collar, with the knot lying close up in the front opening of thecollar.

In other words, the knot will be formed in the same manner as if anordinary necktie were being applied. When the knot is slid up on theneckband to bring it close against the collar, the portion 2 of theneckband will be drawn back toward the knot and the clasp will be movedfrom the position A in Figure 2 to the full line position in which itappears in this figure. The necktie will now have the appearance of anordinary four-in-hand. necktie which is tied by the wearer. The claspwill remain hidden just within the front flap 5 of the collar so thatthere will be no' unsightly indication that the clasp is present on theneckband.

The clasp which I prefer to use in connection with the present inventionconsists of two separable members I I, I2, preferably stamped from sheetmetal. The detachable ends of the neckband are preferably tapered ornarrowed, as shown at l3 in order that the width of the clasp may beretained the same width as the adjacent portions of the neckband. Themember H is attached to one of the ends of the neckband, preferably bypassing the reduced end of the band through a cross slot M of the claspmember and folding this end back upon the neckband and stitching the endto the neckband proper, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. This clasp memberconsists of the plate portion I5 which has the slot just described andof a portion l6 bent back upon the portion l5 to substantially U shapein cross section.

The other member [2 of the clasp has a plate portion I! provided with across slot i8 and the reduced end of the second portion of the neckbandis passed through this slot, the end of the neckband is folded back onthe main portion, and secured thereto by stitching, as shown in Figure4.

The plate I! is also bent back upon itself, as shown at l 9 to make thisclasp member substantially U shape in cross section; and this portion IQof the clasp member is adapted to engage between the portion l6 and theplate l5 of the first described clasp member. In order to lockinglyengage therewith and prevent the neckband members from being pulledapart in the direction of their length, I have provided slots or cuts 20across the metal of the member l9 and the strip of metal between theseslots is bent inwardly to form a sort of spring 2| projecting toward oneface of the member Hi to frictionally engage therewith and therebyprevent the clasp members from sliding apart except when pressed by thefingers.

When the necktie has been applied as shown in Figure 2 and is worn, say,throughout the day, and it is desired to remove the necktie, the usermerely reaches under the flap 5 of the collar with the fingers, andslides the clasp sections ll, I2 apart by moving them laterally inrelation to each other against the light friction of the spring 2|. Whenthis has been done, the neckband of the tie may be drawn downwardly andout of the collar or the collar may be removed from the shirt before theneckband is detached from the collar.

The necktie will be retained in the condition shown in Figure 3, thatis, the knot will be retained in the necktie until the latter is to beworn again. The second time the necktie is to be worn, or any subsequenttime, it is only necessary to place the longer portion 3 of the neckbandof the necktie between the neckband of the collar and the turned-downwall, and after the collar has been applied to the neckband of the shirtthe operator merely reaches under the flap 5 of the collar and slidinglyengages the clasp members H, l2 to the position shown in Figure 2. Or,if thecollar is fixed to the shirt the longer member 3 is slid under thecollar as with an ordinary tie and then the clasp members are attachedtogether.

It will be noted that during this reapplioation of the necktie the knotis preserved and its position on the neckband is not disturbed, nor isthe adjustment of the neckband in relation to the collar necessarilydisturbed. In other words, the necktie, after the first application andthe formation of the knot, may be applied and removed by merelyattaching or detaching the clasp members. It will be apparent,therefore, that the original knot may be preserved over a long period oftime and that the material of the tie is not soiled or wrinkled byrepeated formations of the knot. It is unnecessary to form the knot eachtime the necktie is worn, so that the time required to apply and removethe necktie after the knot is' once formed is reduced to the simpleoperation of attaching and detaching the clasp.

As shown in Figure 8, the tie may be of the type having a bow knot. Inthis case the knot 25 is formed upon the first application of thenecktie the same as with the knot in the fourin-hand type. The bow knotis preserved during repeated applications of the necktie to the wearerthe same as in the four-in-hand type. In fact, the only differencebetween the two types is the form of knot.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A necktie including a neckband portion adapted to be placed againstthe neckband of a collar and having portions at opposite ends of theneckband adapted to be formed into a knot when the tie is in position onthe collar whereby the knot is formed by the wearer while the necktie isin position, the neckband of said necktie being formed in severalsections, one of which encircles the major portion of the neckband ofthe collar, members attached to the free ends of the neckband forming aclasp, each of the members of the clasp having portions bent back uponthemselves whereby said clasp members are U shape in cross section, saidclasp members adapted to be slid laterally into and out of cooperativeengagement without disturbing the adjustment of the neckband of thenecktie in relation to the collar, the bent-back portion of one of saidclasp members having slots cut therein crosswise of the member and thematerial between said slots being bent inwardly to form a spring portionadapted to co-operate with the other clasp member.

2. A necktie including a neckband portion adapted to be placed againstthe neckband of a collar and having portions at opposite ends of theneckband adapted to be formed into a knot when the tie is in position onthe collar, whereby the knot may be formed by the wearer when thenecktie is in position, the neckband of said necktie being formed ofseparable sections one of which encircles the major portion of theneckband of the collar, and a clasp having a section attached to each ofthe free ends of the neckband of the necktie, each of said claspsections consisting of a plate attached to one of the ends of theneckband of the tie and bent into U shape, the loops in the bentportions of said members extending substantially the full width of theclasp, and the free ends of said members being substantially straightand unobstructed so that said members may he slid laterally into and outof engagement with each other without changing the adjustment of theneckband of the tie in relation to the collar. WM. H. SEARS.

